Biased canopy for vending trailers



s. J. SCHANTZ 3,356,126

BIASED CANOPY FOR VENDING TRAILERS Dec; 5, 1967 Filed Oct. 23, 1965 3Sheets-Sheet 1 m \/E A/rore: 50CRA T56 .1 50mm;

Dec. 5 1967 5. J. SCHANTZ 3,356,126

BIASED CANOPY FOR VENDING TRAILERS Filed Oct. 25, 1965 3 Sheets-She t 246 INVENTOR: 76 SOCRATES JSCHANTZ vwww Dec. 5, 1967 5. J. SCHANTZ BIASEDCANOPY FOR VENDING TRAILERS Filed Oct. 23, 1965 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 e w g OM m. MT 3 $7 United States Patent 3,356,126 BIASED CANOPY FOR VENDINGTRAILERS Socrates J. Schantz, Box 134, Marine, Ill. 62061 Filed Oct. 23,1965, Ser. No. 503,338 8 Claims. (Cl. 160-62) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSUREA canopy for use with vending trailersand the like which is springloaded for easy raising from a locked position to a raised and assembledposition. The canopy has a roof member hingedly connected to a trailerframe and hinged front and side wing members. The biasing is effected byconnecting a spring from the frame to the side wing members to urge thecanopy, including the roof, front and side wing members, to raised andassembled positions.

This invention finds particular usefulness in providing a canopy forsmall vending stands which are transported from one location to another.Such vending stands may be mounted upon a trailer in well known fashionwhich, because of their mobility, are adapted to service any desiredlocality such as in the neighborhood of schools, athletic contests,etc., where people congregate and patronize the stand. Such standsconventionally vend hot dogs, soft drinks, ice cream and the like. Inthe past, it has been conventional to vend from an opened window at oneside of the stand. It is quite desirable to provide a top canopy or roofto protect the customer from the direct rays of sunlight or possibleinclement weather. Also, through the use of a projecting roof theinterior of the stand may be protected against the hazards of weather.

Summary of the invention This invention provides a folding canopy whichcan be easily set up to the assembled position in a matter of minutesafter the stand has been located in the desired position. The canopy isof a rectangular configuration and has what may be termed an overlyingroof portion and side or wing members, which aid in supporting the roofmember. The canopy of this invention is an improve ment over the foldingcanopy shown in my United States Patent No. 2,896,706.

As a special feature of this invention, the canopy can have the frontand side wing members, which are bordered at their peripheral sides ofthe roof member, erected by an operator as soon as the canopy has beenunlocked. With this pre-assembly of the wing members, the canopy isspring loaded or biased, such that it may be very simply raised to theassembled position and engaged in a locking position. Thus, the erectionis very simple and can be accomplished by women without the requirementof any special skill or effort in the way of manual labor.

The construction of the vending stand canopy is simple in nature andrugged so that it will readily withstand the rigors of transportation.As a very desirable feature, it may be knocked down or collapsed fromthe canopy position to the window boarding up position in a very shortperiod of time without the requirement of any special tools. Conversely,the canopy may be assembled to the final canopy position from theboarded up position in a very short period of time by a reversal of theoperation.

The above features are objects of this invention and further objectswill appear in the detailed description which follows and will otherwisebe apparent to those skilled in the art.

For the purpose of illustration of this invention, there is shown in theaccompanying drawings a preferred embodiment thereof. It is to beunderstood that these drawsupported upon a vending stand 22 having awindow open- 7 3,356,125 Patented Dec. 5, 1967 ings are for the purposeof example only, and that the invention is not limited thereto.

In the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a view of the canopy in the closed or down position taken infront elevation;

FIGURE 2 is a view similar to FIGURE 1 but taken from the right sidethereof;

FIGURE 3 is a view in front elevation showing the canopy in the raisedand fully assembled position;

FIGURE 4 is a view in rear elevation of the canopy in the closed or downposition;

FIGURE 5 is a fragmentary view in rear elevation showing the canopy inthe raised position;

FIGURE 6 is an enlarged view in side elevation taken from the right sideof the canopy showing the raised position;

FIGURE 7 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 7--7 of FIGURE6;

FIGURE 8 is an enlarged view taken on the line 88 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 9 is an enlarged view taken on the line 99 of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 10 is an enlarged fragmentary top plan view of the right endportion of the canopy in the erected position;

FIGURE 11 is an enlarged view in section taken on the line 1111 ofFIGURE 10;

FIGURE 12 is an enlarged fragmentary view in elevation taken from theright side of the canopy showing an intermediate stage in the erection;

FIGURE 13 is a fragmentary view taken similarly to FIGURE 12 but showingthe disassembly of the front wing member from the right side wingmember;

FIGURE 14 is an enlarged plan view of a lock for locking the side wingmembers to the canopy in the disassembled position;

FIGURE 15 is an enlarged top plan view partially in section showing alock for the side wing members in the disassembled position; and

FIGURE 16 is an enlarged view of the wing nut used in locking the frontwing member to the canopy stand in the disassembled position.

Referring now to the drawings, the folding canopy of this invention isgenerally indicated by the reference numeral 20 in FIGURES 1, 2, 3, 4,10, 11 and 12. It is ing 23, and it will be understood that the standmay be part of a trailer or stationary asdesired. The stand 22 v forms aframe around the window, and it will be understood that one canopy orseveral may be used around the stand. The canopy is comprised of a roofmember 24 and three wing members, namely front wing member 26,

left side wing member 28, and right side wing member 30. Biasing springs32 and 34 connected at the top to the vending stand and at their lowerends of the side wing members provide for biasing of the canopy to theraised or assembled position for ease in erection, and also aid inunfolding the side Wing members which are biased toward the assembledposition by the springs.

The roof member, as best shown in FIGURES 4 and 8, is connected to a topcross piece 35 of the vending stand by three hinges 36. The roof memberfurther supports the front wing member 26 by means of a hinge 38, whichextends along the length of the roof member.

Latch members 40 are supported upon the roof member, as shown in FIGURE1 and FIGURE 9, to hold the side wing members 28 and 30 in the knockeddown position shown in FIGURE 1. The latch members 40 are more fullyshown in FIGURE 14, as comprising a base member 42, which is mounted toa longitudinally extending rib 44 on the roof member, and a latchelement 46 connected by a latch hinge 48 in hinged relation to the roof.The latch element 46 may be swung from the latched position shown inFIGURE 1 counterclockwise to disengage the left wing member 28 and in acounterclockwise position to disengage the right side wing member 30.

A second latch means 50 is supported on the cross piece 35 of thevending stand to hold the back portion of the Wing members in lockedposition. These latch members are best shown in FIGURE 1 and FIGURE 8,and are hingedly connected by a hinge element 52 to the vending standcross piece, while a latch hook portion 54 engages the wing memberthrough a flange element 56 at the rear or back of the wing member.

The front wing member 26 is best shown in FIGURES 1, 4, 10 and 11. Asthere shown, it is provided with a thumb screw 60 connected to a lockplate 62 at the rear of the wing member, such that the lock plate 62 canbe engaged with vertical frame members 64 of the vending stand to lockthe canopy against it in the disassembled or knocked down position.

The front wing member 26 is further provided with front flange element66 and side flanged elements 68 and 70. The side elements 68 and 70provide for engagement with the side wing members to hold the wingmembers in assembled position in rigid connection.

The two side wing members 28 and 30 are identical in construction exceptfor reversal of their parts and, accordingly, only the right side wingmember 30 will be described. It is best shown in FIGURES 1, 6, 10, 11and 12. As there shown, it is connected by a hinge 72 extending alongits length to the side of the roof member. It is further provided with aflange 74, which extends across the width of the wing member, and asecond flange 76, which extends across the length of the wing member.These two flanges, as shown in FIGURE 10, are spaced apart from oneanother to provide an opening 78, which receives the flanges of thefront wing member in the assembled position. The flange 76 furtherserves to protect the spring 34 in the canopy assembled position, and,additionally, is provided with a hooked portion 56, as shown in FIGURE10. The hooked portion 56 is engageable with a hook 82 fixed to thecross piece 34 of the vending stand to lock the canopy in the assembledposition.

Use

The canopy is shown in the knocked down or disassembled position inFIGURES 1, 2 and 4. From this position it can be very simply erected tothe canopy raised position, and, once raised, then disassembled andreturned to the canopy knocked down position. This is of great advantagein the set up of trailer stands and other operations requiring an easilyassembled canopy.

For the erection of the canopy from the knocked down position, the thumbscrews 60 are first loosened. Once this disengagement of the front wingmember with the vending stand has been accomplished, the front wingmember is raised to the vertical position with respect to the roofmember 24. Then the latch members 50 are disengaged from the back endsof the side wing members. Likewise the latch members 40 are disengagedfrom the front portions of the wing members and the wing members, whichare biased by the springs, are then fully raised to the verticalposition for engagement at their front ends with the front wing member.All this can be done by an operator standing upon the ground. It will beunderstood that in the foregoing operation, where desired, the side wingmembers may be first disengaged and then the front wing member may bedisengaged and the various members then may be connected together. Oncethe disengagement of the wing members has been accomplished from theirlocked positions and connected to one another, the canopy is raised tothe position shown in FIG- URE 12 by the biasing spring, and a verysimple effort by the user completes the raising and erection of the 56and the wing members are disengaged from the locks 82. Once this hasbeen accomplished, the canopy is brought down and the side wing membersare disengaged from the front wing member. The front wing member is thenlocked against the canopy stand by tightening the thumb screw to engagethe lock plate 62 wtih the vending stand. The wing members are thenfolded over against the roof member to the position shown in FIGURE 1,and the latch members 40 and 50 are engaged with the front and backportions of the wing members, respectively, to hold the wing members inplace.

When the canopy is collapsed and knocked down, it firmly closes theopening in the vending stand and is securely locked in place. No toolsof any type are required to bring about the collapsing and locking ofthe component parts, or to provide for the erection or assembly of thecanopy.

Various changes and modifications may be made in the canopy of thisinvention as will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art. Suchchanges and modifications are wtihin the scope and teaching of thisinvention as defined by the claims appended hereto.

What is claimed is:

1. A collapsible canopy adapted to be assembled from a collapsedposition against a vertical frame to an assembled and raised horizontalposition, said canopy comprising a roof member having hinge meansconnecting it to the frame, front and side wing members hingedlyconnected to the front and sides of the roof member, and spring biasingmeans connecting the canopy to the frame to assist in assembly, thespring biasing means comprising a spring connected at one end to theframe above the roof hinge means and at the other end to one of the sidewing members to provide a biasing means on the side wing members to urgethe canopy to a raised position and the side wing members to theassembled position.

2. The canopy of claim 1 in which said front and side Wing members areprovided with flange means to connect each of the side wing members tothe front wing member to hold the canopy in rigid relation.

3. The canopy of claim 1 in which said front wing member in thedisassembled position is foldable to a position in the same plane as theroof member and has means for locking it to the frame.

4. The canopy of claim 1 in which said roof member has latch means inthe disassembled position engageable with the side wing members to lockthem fiat against the roof member.

5. The canopy of claim 1 in which there is a locking means for thecanopy in the assembled position connecting a lock element of the sidewing members to lock elements fixed to the frame.

6. The canopy of claim 1 in which said front and side wing members areprovided with flange means to connect each of the side wing members tothe front wing member to hold the canopy in rigid relation, said frontwing member in the disassembled position being foldable to a position inthe same plane as the roof member and having means for locking it to theframe, said side wing members having latch means in the disassembledposition engageable with the side wing members to lock them flat againstthe roof member. I

7. The canopy of claim 1 in which said front and side wing members areprovided with flange means to connect each of the side wing members tothe front wing member to hold the canopy in rigid relation, and lockingmeans for the canopy in the assembled position connecting a lock 5element of the side wing members to lock elements fixed to the frame.

8. The canopy of claim 1 in which said front and side wing members areprovided with flange means to connect each of the side Wing members tothe front Wing member to hold the canopy in rigid relation, said frontwing memher in the disassembled position being foldable to a position inthe same plane as the roof member and having means for locking it to theframe, said side Wing members having latch means in the disassembledposition engageable with the side Wing members to lock them flat againstthe roof member, and locking means for the canopy in the assembledposition connecting a lock element of the side wing members to lockelements fixed to 6 the frame, and said spring biasing means comprisinga spring connected at one end to the frame above the roof hinge meansand at the other end to one of the side Wing members.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,714,926 8/1955 Nichta 160213 X2,896,706 7/1959 Schantz 160-62 2,909,220 10/1959 Zimmerman 16062 X3,067,453 12/1962 Lyons 49386 X DAVID J. WILLIAMOWSKY, Primary Examiner.PETER M. CAUN, Examiner.

1. A COLLAPSIBLE CANOPY ADAPTED TO BE ASSEMBLED FROM A COLLAPSEDPOSITION AGAINST A VERTICAL FRAME TO AN ASSEMBLED AND RAISED HORIZONTALPOSITION, SAID CANOPY COMPRISING A ROOF MEMBER HAVING HINGE MEANSCONNECTING IT TO THE FRAME, FRONT AND SIDE WING MEMBERS HINGEDLYCONNECTED TO THE FRONT AND SIDES OF THE ROOF MEMBER, AND SPRING BIASINGMEANS CONNECTING THE CANOPY TO THE FRAME TO ASSIST IN ASSEMBLY, THESPRING BIASING MEANS COMPRISING A SPRING CONNECTED AT ONE END TO THEFRAME ABOVE THE ROOF HINGE MEANS AND AT THE OTHER END TO ONE OF THE SIDEWING MEMBERS TO PROVIDE A BIASING MEANS ON THE SIDE WING MEMBERS TO URGETHE CANOPY TO A RAISED POSITION AND THE SIDE WING MEMBERS TO THEASSEMBLED POSITION.